Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to thank all those who spoke—and most particularly the member for Gilmore, who has spoken so elegantly, without any notes. I would like to commend her for taking up the challenge to talk on this difficult subject that others seem to have been shying away from, which I think is a bit of a tragedy. I know we are all very busy in this place but I think this is one of the issues where we should be united as a voice against this terrible scourge of the death penalty.

The deaths of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, along with six other prisoners, are a tragedy. They are a tragedy for these young men, whose lives have ben cut so short. They are a tragedy for the families that they leave behind, families who will never get over this situation. But they are also a tragedy for justice. There is no justice in the death penalty. It is always an unjust response. This is not a debate about guilt or innocence. By their own submission, Andrew and Myuran were pretty stupid and thoughtless 21- and 23-year-olds when they committed an awful crime; a crime, as the member for Gilmore rightly points out, that is causing devastating harm in our community. And it would have caused untold damage to many other young Australians—not to members of the Indonesian community—and we do not shy away from the debate about the scourge of drugs. But they did not seek pardons for their actions. Members of this House, the Australian government and the Australian Labor Party did not seek pardon for their crimes; only clemency from the death penalty—a punishment that has now been carried out.

That punishment will have no impact on the problem of drug trafficking in Indonesia or indeed in Australia. Eleven years ago, I was actively pleading for the life of Van Tuong Nguyen—another naive, stupid young man who committed a terrible crime and paid the ultimate price; his life over at 25. Did his execution stop drug trafficking through Singapore? Did it catch the dealer using Van as a mule? Did it lead to actions taken against the drug syndicate who supplied the drugs to the Bali Nine? Has it stopped people taking drugs? The answer to all these questions is of course: no. Has the death penalty in any way changed people's behaviour? No, it has not. Have they learnt? Sadly, they have not. Have we changed? No, we have not. And more mothers have lost their sons.

I keep in constant contact with Kim Nguyen, who is a constituent of mine. This tragedy again has brought home to her the thoughtless act of the crime of killing her son. At the end of the day, that is what the death penalty is. Did it bring justice? Has it ensured we are tough on crime? Has 'tough on crime' become just a populist, political headline-grabbing thing? Isn't it something we should actually be dealing with? Shouldn't we be looking to the issues that will reduce the hideous taking of drugs in our community? Because the death penalty has not.

Reducing crime requires governments and justice systems to be tough on the causes of crime. To borrow the words of former Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls: 'The justice system is at its best when it functions as a positive intervention on the life of an offender; when it seeks to rehabilitate, prevent recidivism and help offenders become productive members of society.' Andrew and Myuran were examples of how Indonesia's justice system can be that positive intervention. They accepted their punishment, undertook to reform themselves and sought to reform others. That is actually the outcome that all justice systems should seek. Tragically, their executions undo that positive action and have not led to any criminal action being taken against the individuals who were supplying the drugs. Let us get to the heart of the problem.

But it is not just Indonesia where these tragedies occur; 16 countries around the world still use the death penalty, ineffective though it is. In the United States, seven states still use the death penalty. While it is a welcome fact that death sentences in 2014 were at the lowest rate since 1976, we must continue to urge all American governments to discontinue the use of the death penalty. According to Amnesty International, the murder rate in all non-death penalty states is lower than in the states where they have it. The threat of execution is unlikely to enter the minds of those acting under the influence of drugs or alcohol, those who are in the grip of fear or rage, those who are panicking while committing another crime, or those who are suffering from mental illness or impairment and do not understand the gravity of their crime. In the United States and other countries around the world, the death penalty is disproportionately used against the poor, ethnic and religious minorities, and people suffering mental illness.

If we have any hope of ever achieving the ideal equal justice systems across the world to make a lasting and permanent reduction in crime, then we need to end the death penalty in all countries. Nobody has said it better than Gandhi: 'An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind'.

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